Sacred Smoke and a Ring Bearer
by Echo the Nymph
Summary: 2,500 years have passed and now, the Ring is found again...
1. After Tragedy Strikes

Sacred Smoke and a Ring Bearer  
  
Echo the Nymph  
Disclaimer: The characters that were in LotR are Tolkien's.  
  
  
Many years had passed,   
But One of Three alive.  
Into the Third Age did  
Tinuviel live.   
Yet she and another  
Of the Ancient creed  
Fell to the swords of darkness  
Defending their home.  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 1  
  
  
  
  
A week had passed since that fateful battle. The Ancient Huntresses, Prairie Song Tinuviel and Sierra had fallen protecting their village from the darkness. All were still mourning, yet the elves had to be told. High Chief Forest Fire lightly touched his daughter's shoulder as she quietly lay in the sunshine of that bright day. "Sala Aria, sho elafas sherae bi calare. Thea ria feylas."   
  
Gracefully, the gray filly rose to her hooves. "Siya, Farata. E kia di." Sacred Smoke took the rolled and tied parchment from her father's hand and placed in the pouch that was fastened around her waist. The huntress quickly packed what she would need; as time was of the essence. After shouldering her pack, she turned to her father. "Cornawa." She cantered away, into the shadows of Harlindon that were around the village.   
  
Sacred Smoke emerged from the shadows and moved across the grasslands that separated her from the elven home. Not a single blade was stirred by her passage, a characteristic of huntresses.   
  
After her first day's journey, she settled in for the night under the stars. As she was near the lands those who would become hobbits lived in, she erred on the side of caution and stayed away from where they were known to be. Sorrow was nearly overwhelming her with its black tide. A song came to her heart, sweet and sad.  
  
"Red Vixen, mother of the line;  
Take into your company Prairie Song and Sierra.  
Keep them safe, keep them sound sweet ancestress.  
By the powers of Fire I implore you, burn   
This grief from my heart to leave the joy  
Of their memory.   
Mothers they were to me as mine left all too soon.  
Please burn the grief away."  
  
The last note died away as she pulled her traveling blanket closer about her. Maybe I should tell the people by the rivers. They were friends as well. She shook her head. No, not now. The grief is still too near and would they believe one they feel is a child? Sacred Smoke Tinuviel retreated into the world of dreams, where grief and pain could not touch her.  
  
Golden light of the morning woke her from her slumber. Sacred Smoke rose to her hooves and folded her blanket. After a quick breakfast and a grooming she set out once again. Something told her to stay in the shadows; the seeds of men's mistrust had grown greater and enemies could come from any side. Her loping strides carried her far that day as she rarely stopped and her instincts brought her to the quickest path.   
  
The huntress pulled up for a bit of a breather. The evening light grew dimmer as the colors faded from the sky above her. Imladris isn't much farther now. She uneasily shuffled about. Danger! But who and where... Her sharp gaze caught a small party of orcs. They had seen her as she had them. She burst into a gallop, covering the ground with large, graceful strides. Obstacles in her path were no more than mere annoyances as her agility served her well.   
  
Her hooves splashed into a river as she continued to run. Unknown to her pursuers, she knew how to call upon the power of the elves. The orcs followed her into the river and only then did they hear her speaking in Sindaran. Not one of them understood a word. The level of the water in the river rose rapidly and washed them all away. As the surge died away she continued on her way to the elven home.  
  
~  
  
"Father!" Arwen called. He turned, not knowing why she was so worked up. "One of the guards saw orcs in the river!"   
  
Lord Elrond walked over to the edge of a balcony. The startled cry of one of his sons reached his ears. Only three people could startle them in such a way. He shifted his gaze to the direction of the yelp. A satiny gray filly with snowflakes dancing across her stood there... Sacred Smoke! "I see why they were in the river. Apparently they were chasing Sacred Smoke." The elf-lord left his house to meet her.   
  
"Corta anyo, Lord Elrond." Her tone was even, breathing steady. Her long run hadn't winded her at all, showing the classic stamina of huntresses.   
  
"Sina dosena. What brings you to Imladris?" He blinked when she handed him the rolled up parchment. Elrond carefully broke the seal and untied the cord. The runes inscribed told a tale of great sorrow. After 2,518 years of life, 2,000 of them known to him, Prairie Song Tinuviel had passed on due to swords of darkness. And with her had gone Sierra. He blinked back tears, managing to keep himself under control. "Sacred Smoke Tinuviel, you have my sympathy."   
  
Only when he had said those words did the elves that had gathered know what had happened. They had lost two of the greatest elf-friends in all of the peoples of centaurs.   
  
Sacred Smoke was barely seventeen and she had lost those who had been as mothers to her. They lifted their voices in lamentation, not surprised in the least when she joined them. The name Tinuviel suited her as it did Prairie Song. Both sang with the great beauty of voice. 


	2. A Journey Begins

Sacred Smoke and a Ring Bearer  
  
Echo the Nymph  
Disclaimer: I don't own Middle-Earth. Never did and most likely never will.  
  
  
Days flew by in the  
Elven home.   
Wounds of emotion  
Healed to nothingness,  
And happiness returned.   
Yet a danger she could sense   
From the Fair Lands and  
Anduin the Great River...  
  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
  
  
*~  
  
"Smokey, help me!!" Smeagol cried.   
  
She shot to her hooves, startled. Sacred Smoke started forward to help him and found herself caught in sticky, slurry mud. "Smeagol, don't let darkness take you!" The huntress struggled in an attempt to come to his aid. Smeagol faded away and a golden wood filled her vision. "Nanar?"   
  
A voice floated through the trees. "Peace, Tinuviel. Your friend is not yet lost. It is the Ring of Power you fear. The Ring Bearer will need your help to flee the fair lands. Accompany him to his destination."   
  
~*  
  
Sacred Smoke woke sharply, startled. "Easy Tinuviel." Arwen commanded as she came into the room. "What could've startled you out of sleep?"   
  
"It was only a dream." She settled back into bed. During her visit, her emotional wounds had healed. Now, nearly a month later, someone spoke of the Ring of Power in her dreams. "I'll be all right, Arwen."   
  
She nodded and left her friend to sleep. Morning's light woke her once more. Sacred Smoke set out after she had breakfast with them. Her wolfish lope carried her away from Imladris and to the Fair Lands. She continued to lope through the deep summer green grasses that were tall with their growth. Around midday, the sound of someone collapsing caught her attention. Falling into a walk, she approached the fallen one. "Smeagol!" She was very startled to see her friend so far from his home.  
  
"Smokey!" He leapt to his feet and hugged her tightly. "I must leave." Smeagol sounded depressed and very forlorn. Those who had been his family had turned him away from themselves and the great river Anduin. This far he had made it on the side of the mountains she'd found him on.  
  
She placed her hand on his shoulder to gain his attention. "I will accompany you. Smeagol, you are my friend and I won't leave you helpless." She curled up her satiny gray legs and lay on the ground. "Get on; I won't let you fall."   
  
Hesitantly, he sat on her back. Sacred Smoke rose to her hooves and took off into her wolfish lope once again. Her hooves took them in the directin that Smeagol subconsciously indicated. "We heard about what happened." The sorrow that laced his tone was as deep as the sorrow she had felt when she saw them fall.   
  
"Peace. They know you haven't forgotten them." Her easy strides carried them towards the mountains that loomed on the other side of Rivendell. A deep, dark power was with her friend and she carried it with him. She struggled to keep herself from shuddering. From deep within her heart came a song that poured from her like water over the falls.  
  
"Travelling over grasslands green  
Came a hobbit yet unseen.  
Borne by him a Ring of Power  
To the forests of deep green.  
Near the border of forest lands,  
He met his friend, huntress born.  
Together they went to Mountains Misty,  
To hide the Ring of Power.  
Friends that are true they are;   
A power greater than the Ring!"   
  
Deep within his subconscious mind, a split began. Sacred Smoke was partially Maia, and the power in her song would preserve Smeagol when Gollum became reality. Dusk fell, prompting them to stop and make camp. As the fire was started and supper was started they began to quiz eachother.  
  
"It always runs but never walks, flowing from a mouth that never talks." Smeagol chanted.  
  
"A river." Sacred Smoke replied without a blink. He always used that one. "Without words it sings, in trees it lives. Clouds are its friends and from dusk came its name."   
  
He blinked. From dusk came its name? Sings without words? What? "A nightingale." He guessed at a length.   
  
She nodded, smiling. She turned the rabbit on the spit while listening quietly.   
  
"Speed is its forte, talons of steel, it knows the wind and flies far."   
  
He could see her thinking. "A falcon." She stated. "In darkness it glitters, shines like a gem to all who see."  
  
"Stars!" He cried.  
  
Her nod confirmed his answer as she served the dinner they had made. As he lay there in an attempt to sleep, Sacred Smoke hummed softly, a lullaby that she had known since early in her childhood days. The elven music soothed her troubled mind and brought peace enough to Smeagol to allow him to sleep.   
  
The huntress was alerted to a presence behind her. She gracefully rose to her hooves and turned. "N-nanar?" She had never expected to see him, of all spirits.   
  
"Be at peace, young huntress." A slight smile came to him. "Prairie Song was right about what I should've done. But now it cannot be. I tell you this before I go back to the Halls: Keep him in your friendship, for that will preserve him for many years to come."   
  
Isildur vanished back into the night, leaving a confused huntress and a sleeping hobbit.   
  
Finally, she was relaxed enough to find the music within again. And what came from her was different than what she'd sang earlier.  
  
"From the great River Anduin,  
Came a darkness of times long past.  
A hobbit now carries it, to an   
End yet unknown.  
  
Friendship I will keep with him;  
A power greater than the other.  
Now as we cross through Wilder Lands,  
I take him deep to the Mountains Misty.   
  
Him I shall see no more in this life,  
Less it be in the Halls were all souls   
Wait.   
  
Yet long will he hold this darkness,  
And after death will be recovery.  
One long in years with a Gem." 


	3. In Imladris

Sacred Smoke and A Ring Bearer  
  
Echo the Nymph  
Disclaimer: I am in no way shape or form a Tolkien!  
  
  
  
Still, together they went,   
A hobbit and a huntress.  
Finding their course by her instinct,  
A cave did they find.  
Deep and dark,  
Unknown to many, a  
Place where the Ring would be safe  
Until its time had come...  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
  
  
"Here it is, Smeagol." Sacred Smoke declared, pointing to the mouth of a cave. The three-week journey had taken a toll on both of them, for the darkness of the One was at work. Yet she had faired better than he. Together they walked into the cave and once in the shadow, she curled up her satiny gray legs and drew him into a hug. "I will miss you my friend. To keep you safe, we will not meet again in this lifetime. I will await you in the Halls of Mandos but for now, leave you with this riddle:   
A gem born unto a people proud,  
In the house of an elf.  
By two names is she known,  
A huntress of the Ancient Creed.  
But one of nine will she be.  
Powers ancient, frienship strong.  
Who is the huntress the Valar call to council?"   
  
She then rose to her hooves and turned from a friend she wouldn't see again in this life. But it was for his own good, and the good of all of Arda. Smeagol called a farewell after her, feeling that in his heart, she would always be near; somehow.  
  
Then there was that riddle. She had been crying when she posed it and now he knew it would take many years to solve. Her voice then floated back to him in song; a song that was akin to prophecy.  
  
"Years flow by under the mountain,  
Darkness creeps back into the land.  
A Ring of Power sees its time  
Leaves the Bearer by the wayside.  
A lost hobbit picks up the Ring  
Unintended by its power.  
  
What was intended is now lost,  
As dwarves, men, elves and eagles fight.  
Goblins are their foe. The new Bearer  
Is unseen as the battle rages.   
Then  
Takes the Ring unto his home  
  
Years flow by under the hill  
The Ring quiet in his keeping.  
Until the day he walks away  
And leaves it to another.  
  
The one before them forced to tell  
Where the younger hobbit lay.  
Nine Nazgul, dressed in black  
Ride into the fair land.  
  
Yet their haste unneeded  
The Bearer had fled.  
Into a town of the Big Folk,  
Awaiting the Mighty Wizard of the West.  
  
In their company was a Dunedain,  
Who became a friend.   
The Nazgul  
They fooled and fled unto the east.   
Yet their light by night was seen and  
The Bearer stabbed.   
  
His life they saved by the skill of an elven-lord.  
The story of the Ring told. A dwarf attempted  
To destroy what his craft could not unmake.  
Only by the fires of Mount Doom could it be unmade.  
  
The Nine, they came of four hobbits,  
an elf, a dwarf, two men and a wizard.  
Light unto the darkness,   
Through Moria  
They went where the wizard fell.   
  
Lothlorien became their refuge for a time.  
When the Lady of Light bid them farewell,  
Water bore them away.  
  
Yet the Son of Gondor, the Ring tried to take.  
Urak-high found them upon the shore,  
Captured two hobbits and killed the Son of Gondor.  
Two hobbits fled into the darkness of Mordor,  
True friends bearing the Ring.  
  
Guided by one called Gollum,  
Did they the mountain find.  
Yet the Ring laid claim upon  
The Bearer's light heart.  
Gollum attacked him, bit finger from hand  
And fell to his firey end.  
  
The darkness, still it lingered  
Held by the Dark Huntresses.  
By such power the One re-forged."  
  
Sacred Smoke slid on the moist rock on the floor of the cave. She landed on her knees as tears continued to stream down her face. Somehow she knew that the Gollum on the song was Smeagol.  
  
"Now the Gem of a people proud  
Among outsiders finds friends.  
The Bearer restored but only eight  
Of Nine alive.   
  
The Gem shone upon their journey  
To the 'Dell. There friends of   
Her mother were met. A green fire-flyer  
Always at her side.  
  
Fled they to Mirkwood the Great  
Where the Prince was not believed.  
To the ground she bore the doubter  
The king brought them   
To their halls among the trees.   
  
One of the Nine she became; her green  
Fire-flyer at her side. Huntresses rallied,  
The races before them called again to the Crystalline Fields.  
  
Many long battles they fought  
Against the forces Mordor.  
At last, they the final blow struck.  
The One Ring cast back into the fire,  
Balance restored."  
  
Sacred Smoke emerged from the dank cave and into the warm light of the sun. She brushed the dirt and grime of the cave off of herself and turned back to the dark opening. "Till seeing, my friend." The huntress struck up a ground-eating trot, as smooth as the wind. Already, her father would be furious. Deep within, she felt an urgency. Lord Elrond would know of her song; she would teach it to him. 


	4. Through Mountains, and DragonBonding

Sacred Smoke and a Ring Bearer  
  
Echo the Nymph  
Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien's characters.  
  
  
  
Chapter 4  
  
  
  
  
A stallion wove his way through the crowd to his daughter. "Sala Aria, verah vera sonya?" Forest Fire demanded. His concern struck her as it shouldn't have taken her so long to come back.  
  
"Farata, E nalreare ne Imladris ura ah koroja. Terah mi feyla dere va sho Cquisuela Nerandas." She lightly stroked the golden dragoness that was sleeping in her arms. Her return had conincided with a hatching of the lesser dragons. The irradescent gold female slept on, content. "Harea nuella siy Amira."  
  
Startled by her calmness, her father drew back. He should've known. His daughter was a huntress and therefore not easily killed. Amira woke, lettitn offa huge yawn. Her bound huntress was with her, so the world couldn't be any more perfect.  
  
The startled chirps of a red came from the perimiter of camp, heralding a visitor. Lord Elrond halted his horse and dismounted. The elvish horse would not go far.   
  
"Corta anyo." Sacred Smoke greeted.  
  
"Sina dosena." He replied. "Sala Aria, anari dire sonya sorlei vase mey?"   
  
She gestured to the longhouse and they walked inside before speaking again. "Ah loa rishare va mey ne sho moreays. Thera le si." The dragon bound huntress handed him the paper she had written it on. "E sorlei sonya vacria le. E mela le si anranire."  
  
Elrond looked over the words and notes she'd indicated. "It wouldn't surprise me." He stated in the common tongue. "Don't worry, I will keep tis secret until it comes to pass. If it does." The elf-lord rolled it back up and tied it shut. Then his gaze fell to the sleepy dragoness. "What is her name?"   
  
"She is Amira." Sacred Smoke declared. "Thank you for keeping it secret. There will be one to complete the song, for she will know a Dunedain of Numenor far better than I ever will." Her gaze became almost piercing and he understood that she was about to say something important. "I will teach this song to you so that you will recognize it should another voice sing it." Her gaze grew distant, the foresight of the Maiar was upon her. "There will be others in my family who will know this son, though healing be their gift."   
  
Elrond suppressed a shudder; he knew Huntress Healers often sang well. Yet would there be another called Tinuviel within this family line? Their conversation shifted to another topic. "What of the Ring Bearer?"   
  
A sad smile graced Sacred Smoke's face. "He is safe in the mountains. Smeagol will have a new personality. The Gollum I mentioned in the song is he." She chuckled. "Although he was banished from his family, the only sorrow he shows is for what he did. And after our journey was over, I left him with a riddle that even I don't know the answer for." Her eyes grew distant as she recalled it.  
  
"A gem born unto a people proud,  
In the house of an elf.  
By two names is she known,  
A huntress of the Ancient Creed.  
But one of nine will she be.   
Powers ancient, friendship strong.  
Who is the huntress the Valar call to council?"   
  
Lord Elrond chuckled after she finished reciting it. "He may spend the rest of his life figuring that one out." The elf-lord rose to his feet. "I regret that my visis was so short,..."   
  
"I know." She interrupted. "You have problems to deal with." The sparkle was back in her eyes. She accompanied him to the edge of the forest. "Tilla sebin, mi feyla."   
  
"Tilla sebin, Sala Aria." Lord Elrond rode into the forest, vanishing into the shadows of summer.  
  
Sacred Smoke drew a sigh. Her life was far from its end. There was still so much she had to do; yet had not enough time to do it in. Something told her that her life would be cut short, and she would leave only one child in the world after her. But if Mandos decreed it, who was she to attempt to change it? An elf-friend she would remain for her entire life. 


End file.
